As weekly influenza cases average at alert level in 40 prefectures in Japan, facilities for people with disabilities struggle

From NHK World, NHK

January 19 2025

TOKYO – As influenza and COVID-19 infections spread, facilities for people with disabilities are also struggling to respond. Facilities for people with severe intellectual disabilities have found it difficult to take precautions, and there have been cases of infections spreading among users and staff.

At a residential facility for people with disabilities in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, is home to 40 people, including those with severe intellectual disabilities.

First, six residents and one staff member were infected with the new coronavirus on the 24th of last month.

Then, last week, six residents and three staff members were infected with influenza.

So far, no one has become seriously ill enough to require hospitalization, but the facility is facing difficulties in containing the spread of infection.

If there is a suspicion of infection, residents are asked to immediately visit a medical institution, but most residents have difficulty expressing their feelings in words, so it is necessary to understand any abnormalities in their health through regular temperature checks, etc.

In addition, even after infection is confirmed, there are many residents who are sensitive and cannot wear masks, or who leave their rooms because they want to interact with others.

The Director of the Saitama facility, Takahashi Minoru said: “We took sufficient precautions, but the infection spread so quickly that we’ve come to realize how contagious it is. Some of our users have epilepsy, and a high fever can lead to severe seizures. Due to a shortage of manpower, our staff is already at their limit, so if multiple staff members become infected, they have to work consecutive days in a row, which is a tough situation. Procurement of test kits and other things is not small, so we would be grateful for any support.”

According to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and other sources, about 5,000 medical institutions reported an average of 35.02 influenza cases per institution for the week ending Sunday. This marks an increase of 1.2 from the previous week.

The officials say the reported total number of flu patients rose by over 30,000 to 172,417.

The estimated weekly number of patients nationwide is about 1.45 million. The total number of patients since the start of this season on September 2, 2024, is estimated at around 8,492,000.